Letters of Intent awarded today by Tourism Minister to 9 agencies for 22 monuments under Adopt a Heritage project

The 3rd Award Ceremony of Adopt a Heritage
Project was conducted by Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with Ministry of
Culture and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), State/UTs Governments in New
Delhi today for awarding the Letters of Intent to the shortlisted agencies
under Phase IV of the project. Awarding the Letters of Intent to 9 agencies for
22 monuments of Phase-IV, Union Minister for Tourism (IC) Sh. K. J. Alphons
asked the stakeholders to ‘protect, preserve and market’ the heritage of India.
The Minister also emphasised on creation of awareness amongst the corporates
and citizens to adopt heritage sites under the project for creation, operation
and maintenance of basic and advanced amenities at tourist destinations. The
event had a discussion session with the stakeholders in which the concerns and
suggestions were made to the Minister and Ministry officials.

The scheme “Adopt a Heritage: Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan”
was originally launched on 27thSeptember 2017 to preserve the rich
cultural and natural heritage and to promote tourism across the length and
breadth of our country. The Project began with selected ASI ticketed monuments
and the scope has now been expanded to include other natural and cultural sites
across the country. It was strongly emphasised that tourist experience is the
prime parameter to evaluate our performance in the sector.

As on date, the project has received very encouraging
response with over 195 registrations as per the project website. Various
agencies that have come forward for adoption include not only public and
private industry, but also schools and individuals. So far, 31 prospective
monument mitras have been shortlisted by the Oversight & Vision committee
for developing tourist friendly amenities at 95 monuments, heritage and other
tourist sites including major heritage sites like Red Fort, Qutub Minar, Hampi,
Sun Temple, Ajanta Caves, Char Minar, Kaziranga National Park. Earlier, two
MoU’s were been signed between Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of Jammu &
Kashmir, Govt. of Uttarakhand and Adventure Tour Operators Association of
India(ATOAI) for Mt. Stok Kangri, Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir and for Gangotri
Temple Area & Trail to Gaumukh in Uttarakhand. Further, two MoUs were also
signed for Red Fort, Delhi and Gandikota fort, Andhra Pradesh between Ministry
of Tourism, Ministry of Culture, Archaeological Survey of India and Dalmia
Bharat Limited.

Smt. Rashmi Verma, Secretary (Tourism), Shri. Satyajeet
Rajan, DG (Tourism), Smt. Meenakshi Sharma (ADG Tourism) and other officials
were present for the event. The event also witnessed wide participation by
public and private stakeholders from different parts of the country.